MASHABLE – Aug 25 – Bumble has recently turned down a $450M acquisition offer from Match Group. For Bumble, there's no need to settle at this stage. The app is profitable and growing, adding 50K users a day. Last week, the team moved to a new office in Austin. Bumble has 70 employees worldwide with offices in London, Australia, and Germany and plans to open one in New York City next year. The company will release an app redesign in the fall, where users can swap between Bumble for dating, Bumble BFF for friendship, and Bumble Bizz for networking. Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe has an intriguing founder story and unique product that lands her and her company stories in major media outlets.
Category: Bumble
CEO Of Bumble: “Too Many Founders Get A Key Element Of Leadership All Wrong”
BUSINESS INSIDER – Aug 23 – When Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe first launched her dating app in 2014, she had a tiny team and a lot of doubters. The experience of working with a small group of passionate people made Wolfe realize how important gratitude is in a leader. Bumble's employees now number ~60, and she says it's important to value interns as highly as C-level executives. However, she says she sees leaders get that wrong. "Sometimes it's just a little bit backwards," she says. "People feel that people should feel lucky to work for them." Instead, Wolfe recommends that leaders measure success based on the positive impact they have on those they work with.
Bumble Turned Down $450 Million Buyout Offer From Match Group
TECH CRUNCH – Aug 23 – Match Group offered to acquire Bumble for $450 million over the summer, according to sources close to the deal. Bumble launched in 2014, reached 1M users within a year of launch and reportedly has 18M registered users now. Since, they launched BumbleBFF (a service for meeting new friends) and BumbleBiz (for professionals looking for a new job) and introduced paid features. A source close to the company estimates the value of Bumble at over $1B.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
Dating Apps Are Now Banning White Supremacists
by Cassie Murdoch
See full article at Mashable
82% Of Chappy’s Users Are Looking For Serious Relationship
STANDARD.CO.UK – Chappy was founded by Ollie Locke (of Made In Chelsea fame), Jack Rogers and Max Cheremkhin. The app is backed by Whitney Wolfe, co-founder of Tinder and now CEO of Bumble. Users can search for 'Mr. Right' or 'Mr. Right Now'. Each user is verified through Facebook and photos which do not feature the users face, will not make it through the apps strict vetting process. Since going live, Chappy has revealed that only 18% of the apps users currently facilitating the 'Mr. Right Now' setting, whilst 82% are looking for 'Mr Right'.
Julia Schygulla Named Bumble’s Country Manager Germany
WUV.DE – Aug 11 – Dating app Bumble launched in Germany earlier this year and opened a new office in Munich. Julia Schygulla will manage the day-to-day operations and activities of the app in Germany. Previously, she worked with Burda, where she served as a fashion news director.
More Dating Apps Are Hosting Real Life Events
by Sarah Swain
See full article at Herald Sun
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Dating Apps As The New Social Networks
MASHABLE – July 22 – Dating app Hater, which matches people based on the things they dislike, has discovered that a lot of users just don't seem to care where their potential matches are located — because they have no intention of ever meeting them IRL. So Hater launched Global Mode for those who want to be matched with people around the globe. ~20% of their user traffic is in Global Mode, and those people are mostly using the app just to hang out and talk. The younger a user is, the more likely they are to be on Global Mode. Plenty of people use the major dating apps as a way of expanding their social circles. In an effort to capitalize on this, Bumble added BumbleBFF in early 2016, and Tinder launched Tinder Social a year ago. But they haven't exactly taken off as the premiere way of finding new pals.
by Cassie Murdoch
See full article at Mashable
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Q&A With Whitney Wolfe, Bumble
Q: Where did your big idea come from?
A: I really wanted to start a female-only social network, where women could only speak to each other in compliments. My business partner said, "That's a great idea, but why don't you do this in dating? I think there's a real need for this in the dating space."
Q: How did you choose the name Bumble?
A: I originally wanted the app to be called Moxie, but unfortunately there was a trademark issue. A woman on the legal team of my business partner suggested Bumble.
Q: What was the first thing you did to get your idea off the ground?
A: Finding a passionate, dedicated and talented team.
Q: What was the second thing?
A: We created the content that told our story, and explained our vision and our mission.
Q: When did your big break happen?
A: I don't think we had one big break. One big moment for us was when I was invited to be a guest on The Daily Show.
Q: If you could go back in time, what is the one thing you would do differently?
A: I wouldn't be so trusting.
Q: How do you think being a woman has helped you starting your own business?
A: There's no better way to start a business than to build a business based off your personal struggles.
Q: What was your 'I think I've made it' moment?
A: I don't think I've had that moment yet! But I don't think I'll ever say, "I've made it." I'm a firm believer in always staying grounded, and always thinking there's another level to reach.
Q: What task or area of your business will you never delegate?
A: I don't think I'll ever be able to delegate the future, the roadmap, where we go next.
Q: Do you have a big roadmap planned?
A: Yes, we do. We have a roadmap all the way into 2019, so we're quite ambitious.
Q: Before anyone starts their own business, what questions should they ask themselves?
A: Are you solving a real problem that your friends have? Are you solving a true problem that exists beyond yourself? And are you building something that is a solution to something that would truly make the world a better place, in some capacity?
Bumble Launches SuperSwipe And In-app Currency
